BOSTON & SAN DIEGO– Rapport Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging the science of receptor-associated proteins (RAPs) to advance precision neuromedicines, today announced the appointment of Cheryl Gault as Chief Operating Officer and Wendy Young, Ph.D., as a member of its Scientific Advisory Board.
“Cheryl brings great experience in leading corporate operations, development and strategy, which will position Rapport well to make strides in our ongoing clinical programs in seizure and psychiatric disorders and further the development of our portfolio strategy,” said Abraham Ceesay, Chief Executive Officer of Rapport. “And we are proud to welcome Dr. Young to our scientific advisory board, which will benefit from her tremendous expertise in developing new medicines as we work to develop more treatment options for those with neurological disorders.”
Ms. Gault is a biopharmaceutical executive with 20 years of industry experience and immense expertise in leading portfolio strategy for emerging biotechnology organizations. Ms. Gault comes to Rapport from Cyclerion Therapeutics, where she was Chief Operating Officer overseeing corporate and business development, portfolio strategy, new product planning and corporate strategy functions. Prior to that, she held roles of increasing responsibility at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, where she contributed to the successful launch of LINZESS®, a billion-dollar market-leading treatment for irritable bowel syndrome and chronic constipation. Ms. Gault also served at Genzyme Corporation in a variety of sales and marketing roles in the biosurgery division. Ms. Gault earned her B.S. in marketing from Boston College.
Dr. Young is a biotechnology, pharma, and life sciences executive with more than 30 years of experience in the discovery and development of new medicines for patients. She currently serves on the boards of directors and scientific advisory boards of several biotech companies and is an advisor at Google Ventures. Prior, Dr. Young spent 15 years at Genentech, where she served as Senior Vice President, Small Molecule Drug Discovery. Under her leadership, more than 25 clinical candidates progressed into development. She also led the BTK discovery program and is co-inventor of fenebrutinib, which is currently in Phase 3 trials for multiple sclerosis. Prior to joining Genentech, she held roles at Celera Genomics and Scios, a J&J company. Dr. Young is an inventor and/or author on more than 70 published patents and manuscripts and serves as an associate editor of The Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. Dr. Young earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from Princeton University and was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratories of Samuel Danishefsky at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
